"He asked if I was a member of the church," I finally answered Terra with a half-truth after organizing my thoughts properly, "Mercenaries don't have any business with the church and I don't think the church would intervene if this was a quarrel between two families. That can only leave the guild or a dark independent organization to be the culprits and the guild is too careful with their actions to be this rash."
"But this is too much. Why aren't they going after my sis – No, never mind," Terra stopped talking there and looked away from me. I knew what she was about to say and I wondered how the relationship between her and her sister was this bad. In my last life, I never heard about Terra or this incident, and that meant that the family must've hidden this incident so they don't appear weak, "What are we going to do now?" Terra asked and she looked at me for directions.
Terra was only a sheltered daughter and she came into this dungeon thinking that she would be protected. Even if she didn't like the fact that her father chose the bodyguards for her, she was still happy that she got bodyguards. But now, her life was in danger, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do.
I thought about it for some time as I checked the wound on my side, "We can't expect any help since we are already inside the dungeon. There isn't any way they can come to help us here, so we are on our own," I winced as I pressed down on the wound and I realized that I had to bandage this one as well. I brought out some bandages and started to put them on, "And since they lost us, I'm sure that they will be somewhere close to the exit so that we can't leave the dungeon. That means we have to kill them here before we can leave."
I struggled to put the bandage around my side properly and Terra came forward again, "Let me help you. Please." I looked at Terra for a moment before I finally relented and allowed her to wrap the bandages. There was a serious look on her face as she focused on the wrapping.
"We're not strong enough to handle them, are we?" Terra asked, "You seem like you're very strong for a D rank, but the truth is that I don't know what I'm doing. I don't have any fighting skills and I can only boast that I'm a D rank. I'll be useless if there was a real fight." Terra leaned back after she finished with the bandages, "If only my sister was here, she would have been able to do something."
"Maybe that's why you were chosen instead," I said as I checked my bandages and made sure they were loose enough, "You are too weak to put up a fight so they thought it would be easier to kidnap you instead of your sister."
Terra looked hurt by what I said but I didn't have time to cater to her emotions. If she didn't like that truth, then she should have done something about it.
I put on my shirt and armor and I looked out of the cave, into the forest. Two out of the three men were definitely looking for us now. One of them will stay close to the exit to prevent us from leaving.
'If it was only one C rank, then it would not be impossible for me to win.' I thought, 'My experience can make up for the difference in skill and strength. But what if we run into more than one of them? The skills I have won't be able to beat them both while also protecting this girl.'
"We need to move," I said and Terra looked at me in surprise.
"Where are we going?"
"The boss room," I said.
Terra's shock increased, "But… what if they are there too?" she asked as she looked out into the vast forest in front of us.
"I already thought about that," I said and I started moving through the thick trees, "The boss room is close to where we were before they attacked us, so they'll be hanging around there," I turned to her with narrowed eyes and she took a step back in fear, "So you're going to pull your own weight this time."
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[Third Person POV]
Terra ran through the forest quickly. She stopped and looked to her left as she heard a sound coming from here, but it was only a small raccoon running away and she sighed tiredly as she continued running.
"You'll have to draw them away," Jason's voice rang through her head as she remembered what he said just a few moments, "Two of them are patrolling close to the boss's room, so it will be hard for me to get in. I need you to lead them away for at least ten minutes. If they see you, I'm sure they'll chase you down. Getting you is more important than killing me, so there is a higher chance that they will leave their post for you."
Terra heard a voice ahead of her and she immediately fell to the ground as she tried to hide. She peeked out from behind a large tree and she saw one of the men walking through the forest. It was the earth mage that Jason stabbed before. There was a bandage around his right arm and he had a frown on his face as he muttered to himself.
"Let me just get my hands on that kid," the man's frown deepened, and he looked down at the bandages around his arm, "I'll make sure that I snap his neck in half for this,"
Terra felt her heart rate spike and she took in a deep breath to calm herself. She thought back to what Jason said when she told him that she was scared.
"If you're afraid, then just don't fall while running," Jason said to her nonchalantly, "I'm sure they won't kill you if they catch you, but the things that will happen to you will be far worse than death."
Terra didn't know if that was meant to motivate her, but it definitely terrified her. Terra didn't have any fighting skills, but she still had the stamina and agility of a D ranker and she also had some Earth-based skills that were very useful in the forest. She just had to make sure that she didn't get caught. They would be faster than her, but Jason said that the trees would reduce the difference in their speeds. As long as she continues swerving around the trees, she should be able to stay ahead of them.
"Wait till you see two of them together and then begin the plan," Jason's voice rang in her head again, "Just lead them around and bring them back to this location, and I'll take care of things from there."
Terra was breathing heavily already and she had to put her hand to her chest to stop herself from hyperventilating. She looked out from behind the tree and watched the earth mage as he walked through the forest. There was a sound close to her and Terra quickly put her hand to her mouth as she heard another voice from beside her.
"What are you doing walking here ?" the fire mage said as he passed beside Terra without noticing her, "The boss wants you back in two minutes so you can take over watching the dungeon entrance."
"Yeah, just one more minute," the earth mage brought out a cigarette to smoke, "I'm feeling a little tense because of this injury."
The fire mage chuckled condescendingly at his partner, "It's your fault for letting a kid get you like that. You should have been more careful."
"You were there too," the earth mage growled, "And you saw how that kid moved, he was like a freaking demon. But next time we meet him I'll definitely kill him."
"Yeah, sure." The fire mage pointed to the cigarette, "You got another one of those?"
"One sec."
The earth mage was bringing out the cig from his back pocket when Terra decided to make her move. She slammed her hand on the floor and activated [Quick Sand]. The floor under the two men softened and their feet began to fall into the sand.
"What..!?" the fire mage shouted as he looked down in shock.
"Hey!" the earth mage shouted while pointing toward Terra as she ran out from behind the trees, "It's the girl!"
The fire mage immediately cast [Inferno - C] and sent a jet of fire at her and Terra screamed as it barely missed her. He was about to send another one, but the earth mage stopped him, "No! We don't want her dead! Just burn the ground!"